Mass Effect:Grounded
by AbulbnCole
Summary: DISCLAIMER These settings and characters are owned by bioware, Casey Hudson as their main writer. I get no money for these stories. They are not canon. This fanfic will contain spoilers for all ME games. Shortly after the war on Earth, the normandy crashes on a mysterious planet, where the crew mourns their losses, and fends for their survival. Stars Garrus and Javik
1. Wreck

Note: Special thanks to ShadowAngemon, who edited my original story,

Mass Effect: Grounded

Chapter 1

The Normandy SR-2 fled from Earth in the wake of hundreds of other ships. Each crew mourned the loss of Commander Shepard who had sacrificed himself in the last desperate efforts to defeat the Reapers. None, though, were hit harder by his loss than those on the Normandy. Legendary Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau mustered the will to accept Shepard's death and evacuate for the sake of the crew. No one on board failed to notice how the ship felt empty without Shepard standing as her Commander. However, there was not much time to dwell on these feelings. As the starship shot her way to safety, she was overtaken by a wave of light. The barrage destroyed her barriers almost as if they weren't there.

"Oh shit..." Joker said before keying the intercom. "Everybody, find a wall or something to hold onto. I don't think we are gonna have a smooth landing." It was unusual for him to remain serious even in a crisis.

"Right. We can never just breathe for a day, can we?" Garrus Vakarian muttered. He grasped Tali'zorah and led her to a corner in the main battery, the safest place he could find on such short notice.

Lieutenant James Vega was in the hangar at the bottom level of the Normandy. He was arguing over nothing with his best friend and shuttle pilot, Steve Cortez. They were just mouthing off, nobody got heated, until Joker's message popped over the intercom. James almost grabbed Shepard's mechanical dog before he noticed something. As an orange energy flowed through the Normandy, systems powered off as if the energy wave was a high powered EMP. James sighed heavily and Cortez signaled for him to take cover. They felt the Normandy grow unstable as it began plummeting.

Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams had the same thought as Garrus but she was unable to react as quickly. She had just lost the man of her dreams to saving the galaxy and now she was expected to survive a crash? Ashley just laid in Shepard's bed in the Captain's quarters and wept. She was much stronger than this, she told herself. She was the one who told Joker to fly them away from Earth, saving everyone on the Normandy! Though when it was herself, she could do nothing more than pray. By the time Ashley opened her eyes the ship had stopped shaking. She smiled as if waking from a nightmare until she turned and saw the ceiling of the Captain's Quarters on fire. Exotic fish darted around the tank on the wall in futility. Ashley dashed into the elevator... but it stalled. She forced open a hatch and climbed a ladder down to the second floor to find the rest of the crew, and Garrus yelling.

"Joker, what are you doing? Get away from the airlock! We don't know where we are or what's out there!" Garrus reached for Joker, but he hesitated. A large part of him was just as curious about the outside world as the pilot was. Joker just smiled wryly and pried the airlock open. Joker limped outside and let the air fill his lungs. He felt he could breathe again, and the air? It smelled fantastic. Waterfalls surrounded them in the distance. The smell of fruits, varieties he could actually eat, filled him. Garrus stepped out from behind him, clearly just as surprised. Tali came as well, and together the three just stared. Soon, the whole crew was outside the ship. It was James who noticed something both beautiful and horrifying; the sound of a bird singing. The chirping brought him back home, back to Earth for a moment. This, though, was not Earth, and birds like this were native to human planets. There was life here with them.


	2. We Are Not Alone

Chapter 2

"James, you just lost a friend, and your home." Dr Liara T'soni tried to comfort Vega, but she was still shaken from the crash. "No one else heard anything. You just need some  
rest; we all do. I'm sorry, but it is the only explanation I see."

"She is right. Anything living here is harmless. There are no buildings, no prints. This world is primitive." Javik was arrogant, but he was also smart. As a Prothean, he was  
knowledgeable about alien civilizations. If Javik felt certain that nothing lived here, then it was likely that nothing did.

"Alright, and what if we landed right in the garden? What then, Buggy? If they are alive, and pissed?" Though his point was valid, James' voice had an edge of panic.  
"Then we kill them and take shelter in the Normandy." Javik let the nickname slide off.

"No, we don't," Garrus stepped in. "Last time we were in there, sections were still on fire. I'm running in now to get the dextro-amino food supplies, maybe pull out some mattresses from the crew quarters. Then we set up camp away  
from the Normandy while we send in our engineers to start repairs."

Everybody stopped arguing at that. Garrus had been Shepard's friend through it all. Garrus betrayed protocol to get information on Saren, and Garrus was there to take him down on the Citadel. Then, Garrus came again to join Cerberus, who were widely thought to be human supremacists, because Shepard needed him. Garrus rushed into death for Shepard multiple times. It only felt right for him to take charge. James was though, able to convince the crew to set up a nightwatch. Garrus and Javik would take the first patrol with James and Ashley on second.

Throughout the discussion, Joker sat alone on a rock, staring into the waterfall. She was gone. Over the course of the war, Shepard had convinced Joker that falling for his co-pilot was not out of line Even if she was an AI, she was self aware, sapient. EDI. She might as well have been human with all the inter-species couples in the galaxy. Joker groaned in pain and laid his hands over his eyes, indifferent to his brittle bones and broken ribs. Dr. Karin Chakwas approached him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Jeff. Let's get you checked out." She feigned a smile at him.

Tali made her way to the Normandy with a small team; chief engineer Lieutenant Gregory Adams as well as engineers and  
not-so-secret lovers Gabriella Daniels and Kenneth Donnally. They examined all of the Normandy's systems. All of the weapons were disabled and even Shepard's  
automatic fish feeder stopped feeding the fish. Elevators were inoperable; they used ladders instead. Turian technology that powered the ship, all gone. And the team would be  
forced to repair it with nothing to work with. The one that hurt most, though, was the loss of EDI. Even if they "fixed" her, it would just be bringing back AIs, the reason  
behind the war. And she wouldn't be the same. The old EDI had already been erased. Tali sighed heavily. "First, I want to try to fix the weapons, just in case. Then we will try  
for the radio to call out for help. If it ever comes, they can help us fix the power supply."

When night approached, Joker managed to fall asleep on a mattress that Garrus pulled out of the Normandy, and as he drifted off he muttered "I am not a charity case, Garrus. I can pull my own weight you know that." Either nobody heard or everybody shrugged him off. The rest of the team found pulled out some mattresses, and slept as well, with the exceptions of Garrus  
and Javik.

"Turian, you remind me of the Commander now. You were able to take control of the situation smoothly. I may be beginning to respect you." Javik almost smiled at Garrus.

"Why so impersonal, 'Prothean?' Garrus Vakarian, in case you forgot. More importantly, you almost respect me. How many others in this cycle have earned a Prothean's respect?"  
Garrus prodded at his uneasy ally.

"None but the Commander."

"Yeah."

Moments of a sickening silence fell upon the two. Before Javik decided to break character, maybe in honor of Shepard, Javik was trying to get close to his friends.  
"I have fought alongside the soldiers," Javik continued. "They managed to unite regardless of species. What are their stories?"

"The Quarian, my personal favorite, is Tali. She's an Admiral, and an engineer, and a damn fine one. Then there's Ashley, the female human. Shepard, uh... tested her flexibility ha," Garrus laughed a little "Shepard expected me to keep that secret. Anyway, Liara is the Asari scientist. She made sure you knew her." Garrus tried to summarize his old friends.

"That is the one. I made a promise to write a book with her, to write about my people as the once brave warriors. The ones who lost." Javik held his memory shard in his hand and  
mourned his lost friends, whom he was forced to kill hundreds of years ago, when the great Prothean empire was destroyed by Reapers.

"Sure, Javik. Your people lost, they saved us. Thessia was so far ahead of the other planets using of one of your beacons. Shepard was able to stop the Reapers because of the  
warnings from the beacons. You got your revenge." Garrus looked Javik in the eye and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Javik nodded and gripped his shard. Garrus winked at  
Javik, who was in turn looking at a sleeping Liara.

"I think our shift's about up," Garrus pointed out. Javik woke James and Ashley as Garrus laid down near a rock outcropping, buffering him from the ocean. He had been thinking  
about Shepard and everything he'd taught him. Commander Johnathan Shepard... the man saved the world (galaxy?) as well as Garrus personally. Shepard found Garrus as a frustrated Citadel-Security agent and helped him abandon the stuffy regulations and become a vigilante. Shepard's influence helped promote him from vigilante to a top ranking Turian adviser when the war began. Garrus drifted to sleep while he thought about how quickly the last three years have gone by,  
then he dreamed of his vigilante self, Archangel.

James and Ashley nodded to Javik, who took his turn at rest. The two rose and started walking circles around the group. James was on high alert due to his paranoia from the  
noises he had previously heard. Ashley, on the other hand, was still skeptical, but she did not let her disbelief stop her from staying protective of the group.

"Hey, Ash. How do you think the engineers are doing back in the Normandy?" James struggled to break the silence.

"They have their hands full, that's a guarantee. Especially since all of the weapons systems somehow shut down- it must have been the crash- and there are only four of them on  
duty right now. Tali is one of them, though, and she never lets me down-" Ashley kept rambling on to keep herself awake as well as distracted from the cold.

"Ash, 5 o'clock," James whispered and nudged her. A figure passed by collecting fruits and making quiet  
noises similar to a gorilla's grunt. The build was slightly over twice his size, with similar muscle mass to his own impressive frame. The creature's forearms narrowed to about  
the size of an average human female's. The same thing happened with its lower legs, below the knee, and its neck, which was noticeably longer than a human's. Its hands and feet  
were similarly over-sized, as well as its round head. The jaw curved like a "C," leaving almost no room for its nostrils and mouth.

"James, stay still and don't make any noise. We can't fight right now. If more come, we wake up the group." Ashley remained level-headed, but the  
revelation that James was right was far from good news. "Tomorrow we can talk to Liara about it. Maybe she can study them, see if it's a friendly species."

The two remained on a high guard until morning when they revealed the information to the group. Garrus, Liara, and Javik set out to find the beasts and study them in stealth as  
James and Ashley continued to protect the crew.


	3. Discovery

"I don't know, but if James is right, maybe they know something. Maybe they have some sort of technology we don't know about," Garrus hoped.

"This planet does not look familiar but it is possible that my people have been here. If there is intelligent life, we should be able to speed up their development. You may have found yourself a new ally, Garrus."

Garrus smiled at the thought of something being there to help them. Even though Javik meant in a decade, just a little bit of hope felt good for a change.

Garrus stayed silent for the rest of the walk while Liara asked Javik questions about his people. About 10 klicks from the crew's new home, there was a native species, apparently the dominant form of life on this planet.

"Unbelievable...how have we never discovered these? Looks like I owe Vega a drink." Garrus was crouching in the undergrowth only a few meters from a community of these natives.

Liara was intrugued. "Look at that. They actually carved houses in tree trunks. The center of the village has those huge... bowls, with food  
and water in them. They actually share their resources." Liara rapidly made observations on just about everything this species had to offer. The creature James had described seemed to be below average in size with many specimens being. The smallest, probably children, were hairless with purple skin. Some adults were covered in thick fur across their bodies and faces, others had no fur on their heads, only their limbs were bare.

The trees towered over even a species this tall, and were wide enough for the Normandy to pass through. None of their housing trees were fruit baring though, the larger trees and the fruit trees seemed to be spaced out, possibly meaning they require different growing conditions, which explains why bowls full of food were shared, less trips across the forest.

"You know what I find nice? Their fur. It's gonna get pretty cold and a little silver blanket doesn't sound so bad," Garrus said with a smirk.

"You treat them like cattle," Javik defended the primitive species. Your  
species was once like this. In fact, in my cycle, your people used to-"

"Alright, Javik!" Garrus interrupted. "I get your point. But you know we might need to. We have to watch out for our people."

Javik glared at Garrus. "I have no problem with that if it becomes necessary."

"Javik is right, Garrus." Liara also seemed to take his joke too seriously. "We can't interfere with their evolution like that. Look, they are almost like one of us. They have  
housing, and it seems like social rules if one of them got food for all to share. Maybe in a few hundred years they will join the council. We have no more right to kill them  
than to kill one of our own."

At that, Garrus did get serious. "Liara, if we don't then we might kill all of our own. Not right now, but eventually it could get cold here. That could be why their fur is so  
thick. If we can't leave by then, we could all die."

"Fine, Mr. Vakarian. I will cooperate. If you get me a closer look. When they all go to sleep, I want to go into their village," Liara bargained, and Garrus nodded.

"Why would Garrus decide to rush in their with no guns?" Ashley criticized him.

"Because, Ash, he doesn't believe they're real. He thinks I just got into your head." James sighed. "But right now we know they're out there. We have to make sure they don't do anything to the crew."

Joked chimed in from behind. "Yeah, sounds great Vega. How do I help?"

"You don't." James never had anything against Joker, but with his brittle bone disease he wasn't exactly fit to be a soldier.

"Joker, if you're up for it, keeping the crew calm would be nice. And if you could see if we can eat any of these fruits, a constant food supply would be nice." Ashly cast a look at James as if to say she deserved command. "Look, I know it doesn't sound like much, but it'd be a great help."

"No, no. I get it. Thanks." Joker sighed and turned away. When he was piloting the Normandy he was a hero. On this island, though, he was the one everybody pitied and tried to protect. The Normandy really was the only place he belonged. It was a sick thing to say, but Joker almost missed the Reapers; when Shepard asked for his opinions, and when he flew around saving lives left and right. When he had EDI at his side every step of the way. Joker went back to his mattress and told the crew a story about his time with Commander Shepard. It wasn't anything that nobody knew. In fact, many of the crew had been there with him. But it was always good to hear about Shepard.

EXTRA

The aliens mentioned in the chapter

art/Primitive-Aliens-342596107

art/Primitive-Aliens-male-version-342596392


	4. Analysis

Chapter 4

"Alright, wake up, Liara." Garrus lighly shook his scientist friend as the last native trudged into it's house with a prideful swagger; back straight, head high, and it's arms dangling to it's hips.

"How did you manage to stay awake, Garrus?" Liara was pleasently puzzled.

"Please, I am used to working long nights, stalking my victims and hiding in plain sight." Garrus referenced his time as Archangle. Javik simply rolled his eyes and insulted Garrus' intelligence.

Garrus led his squad into the village making slow, cautious movements in an attempt to assure they would not be noticed. He whispered uncomfortably "Alright Liara, where do you want to go first?"

"Did you notice how the houses along the end are a bit wider? Yet we only saw one native walk into each of those while two went into the smaller houses. I want to see if they have some special arrangement." Liara was excited, but managed to keep her cool.

"Right. Go from saving the universe to breaking and entering. Sounds fantastic." Garrus walked into a house at the edge first, and they examined the species a bit closer.

The village was split into four sections. Three rings of houses and a large center. They explored the outermost ring first.

"They are powerful. Your cycle has an advantage now. Tame these and you'll have loyal Krogan." Javik's "philosphy" never changed. He was always ready for war.

"Oh, these guys have got to be stronger than the Krogan!" Garrus voice stayed quiet, but sounded like a kid's as he examined their sharp weapons carved from sticks. Each stick had blue blood on it. "Don't tell Wrex I said that."

"The blue blood, Garrus. Maybe their prey shares biology with the Turians. That could mean they have dextro-amino foods as well as levo-amino." Liara reminded Garrus. "Anyway, these ones appear to be soldiers or defenders of some sort. Let's go find the others." Each native in that set of trees had a beard and Mohawk styled fur, as well as particularly large muscle mass.

They left the edge of the village and examined the next ring of houses. In all of these houses there were two occupants. One each of the bald specimens which Liara decided must be female, paired off with another of what appeared to be male soldiers with facial hair. They mate for life, she noted, which few animals do. Some houses even had fully purple children living with them.

The final ring was near a hill with a cave in it. In the houses of the third ring each native's fur had a blue tint to it, but there were no spears.

"Could they have biotic abilities?" Liara pondered

"Hey, ever hear of the house on the hill? I think it means a church." Garrus noted as they spied on the poor sleeping animal.

"You think they have religion?" Liara asked.

"Why not?" Javik asked rhetorically. "Your people's ancestors created a religion from some of my people teaching them basic knowledge." He enjoyed reminding her.

"Javik, too soon. But he could be right, Liara." Garrus whispered to her.

She nodded, and the group headed into the cave, only to find something they had all hoped never to see. A fragment of a Reaper, maybe the human-reaper that was destroyed after Shepard assualted a base of Reaper minions. This fragment was broken, but the native who lay by it, royal looking with paint in his fur, appeared dead; yet his purple skin lit up slightly and there was a grey tint to his dilated eyes.

"They worshiped the Repears..." Liara was exasperated. "He must have been a preacher. All those biotics must be like his holy men. I guess they survived indoctrination. He was a husk, though."

"I think we're done here. Had enough, Liara?" Garrus pretended it was up for debate.

As the group left, Garrus decided to find out what there were in for. "What dimension are these creatures on?" Garrus asked.

Neither of his companions understood.

"I mean, first being drones and VI, second animals and AI, third organics, and fourth is the big question- gods or spirits. It's something Tali brought up, talking about combat drones and Geth-Quarian peace."

"Or Protheans." Javik showed a sense of humor, for a change. "They are second. Everything is second until it discovers that it is not alone."

Liara surprisingly agreed.

After that discussion was done, they all remained silent. By the time they were back at the outermost ring of houses, a bird-analogue sang, and a dawn on

the horizon. The squad hurried out, but when they turned back, two of the soldier-natives were wrestling. One was thrown and the other, the victor, began to chase Garrus' team.

The three began darting through the woods only to discover the species was as fast as they were, and they were used to the turf.

"Gabriella, Ken, your shifts are up." Tali finished playing with a rifle. She was making progress, though it was far from perfect, and that was one gun.

"About time. I could use some air." Adams excitedly jumped out of the Normandy. "I managed to fix a couple of weapons, feels pretty good."

"I am better than this. I guess firearms just aren't my field. I barely finished one. We should have brought Cortez." Tali regretted jumping on her decisions so quickly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Now that you got the feel for it, we can finish this in no time. I mean it, Tali. I have seen you work, and you learn fast." Adams gave his friend a reassuring smile, which she returned, not that he could see under her mask.

Adams found a fruit on a tall tree. He had to climb a little to pick it, but he managed to get down safely.

"Here. Maybe humans and Quarians can share a food? I know we have a few different proteins, but it shouldn't hurt to try."

"I think I'll pass." Tali laughed. "Thanks for the offer." After a brief pause, she added. "How do you think Garrus is doing? The crew, I mean. Everyone who stayed back."

"Well, Garrus is Garrus, so they should all be fine. Hell, they are more than fine. Vega is a tank, and Javik's arrogance is so powerful it could deflect a bullet. I think we are the ones in danger. Really could have used a thermal pipe." Adams joked with Tali. He was not usually the one making jokes, but with Garrus and Joker absent, somebody needed to lighten the mood. "What's really on your mind, Tali?

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Gregory. I am a bit worried. Legion gave his life to make Geth equal, and they helped with so many repairs back on Rannoch. If EDI and everything else are all gone, I don't want to think that we spent so much time making peace to throw it all away here." Tali breathed in heavily. "I am going to work on some guns. After the Reapers, I shouldn't need a break after a little bit of repairs." Tali gave a nervous laugh, and Adams nodded and followed her into the Normandy.


	5. Pursuit

Chapter 5

Garrus looked at Liara and Javik, who were well ahead of him, and turned to look at the native not far behind. He rushed behind a tree and picked up a large rock to hurl at the creature. The rock hit its fur and crumbled. The creature turned his head and, with much greater ferocity, charged towards Garrus.

Garrus simply muttered "Damn," before he turned to run. He called out to his friends, "Careful, these boys are made of steel!"

Liara called back "Don't kill him! If the others find out, they all might fight us."

Javik pulled Liara behind a tree and whispered "Say nothing," before letting her look at Garrus.

Garrus had fallen over a branch and the native was breathing in his face. As it came closer, it held its hand near Garrus. Time seemed to slow while Liara was frozen, stunned. Javik charged a green aura in his hands as Garrus rolled away from the attack. The creature's fist crushed a rock but when he lifted it back up to swing at Garrus, his hand was bleeding. Garrus picked up a stick and stabbed the native in its arm. Purple liquid shot towards Garrus, indicating he had hit an artery.

Javik's aura surronded the native, who was suddenly growing tired.

"Yeah, that's how it's done!" Garrus exclaimed, laughing and cheering. The weary creature came for another attack, though, until Javik threw a spear-like stick into its neck, permanantly silencing it.

"Sorry that it has come to this. May you be at peace with your ancestors." Javik told it before checking on Garrus.

"I'm good, Javik, really. Thank you for the help. Liara, sorry we stabbed your friend there. He sort of tried to kill me."

Liara came to, taking in the situation. "I understand, Garrus. At least it isn't all in vain." She apologized to Garrus for not helping, but he shrugged it off.

"What do you mean by that?" Garrus inquired.

"We've learned more about them." Liara inhaled before explaining further. "Their fur works like natural shields armor, which is why the males, who have more fur, are on the outer ring, and the families are in the middle ring. They seem to treat their biotics like holy-people and keep them in the middle for the most protection. Oh, and what's more, he bled purple, but on the weapons in their shacks, blue blood stains were all over the place, meaning another species here bleeds blue. This planet supports life of both protein builds, if you know where to look. We also know you and Tali should not eat from the trees near the Normandy, but we can find food for you somewhere." Liara lectured, and Garrus was surprised that she had collected so much from one battle.

"Alright, good observations, doctor." Garrus smiled at her. "Let's head back to the crew. We might have to relocate, in case the guys back in town have a little something of a grudge."

"Similistians." Liara told him. "Something I thought might be appropriate to call them. I guess Earth monkeys are on my mind. Joker told me a lot about them."

"Similistians." Javik repeated, and accepted the name. "We should go."

-

James sat down near his old friend, Steve Cortez.

"Hey, Esteban." He lightly hit Steve on the shoulder. "How you holdin' up lately?"

Cortez sighed. "With you working lately, it's gotten pretty lonely. Started talked to Maureu more, though. We have more in common than you'd think."

"I smell romance." James teased.

"Right, that'll happen. Even if he wasn't mourning over EDI, I have never seen him make a pass at any guy. How about you? Any ladies on the Normandy seem nice?"

"Please, you know I have Treeya. In fact, I bet her and Milque are both freaking out about the Normandy's crash right now. 'Ey, how about you, Legs? Vega nodded towards Joker. "I mean, not about ladies. Sorry. How are you these days?"

Joker got serious and looked at James. "Useless. You know that. Cortez has been keeping my mind off that. Thanks."

James was at an obvious loss for words. "So... Ashley. She's pretty nice. I've been working most of my shifts with her. I, uh. I think she still expects to find Loco out here."

Joker stood up, his poise broken, one leg shifted down and the other standing straight. "Shepard has rushed through hell and still managed to jump back onto the Normandy. In fact, if he really is gone, I bet he's rolling in his grave every time you say it like it's a fact. Everybody knows he can find a way out of anything."

"Shepard was my hero, Joker. I know he's the best, but I have to say it like it is. And right now, it looks like he's gone. I am not getting my hopes up to let myself die like I did when you took off without him." Vega stood up, looking down at Joker.

Joker punched Vega, then shook his hand feeling he'd broken a finger. "Fuck... you get the point."

"Hey, I'm sorry, Joker. Just tired." James sat down and buried his head in his hands. "I don't even know what to say."

The three began talking about less sensitive subjects for the rest of the night. When Ashley came to rest and switch shifts with James, none of the boys had noticed much time pass, and none got their sleep. Ashley just laughed at James, her first smile since the battle on Earth, so James didn't complain as he took watch.


End file.
